40 Days After the Resurrection - Part 5
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
"It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” John 20:19-23
Continuing where we left off, we again read a passage from the Book of John.
The Resurrected Christ appeared to His disciples as they were sheltering in place because of fear and perhaps shame or unbelief and other things they might be feeling at that time.
From the passage above, Jesus appeared and offered them peace in the midst of the trying condition they were in. He then also gave them the breath of life, the Holy Spirit.
I am not really sure how they felt after that encounter but Jesus knew what they needed at that time and that was His presence, His reassuring words and further evidence of what He prophesied will happen, has indeed taken place -- Him resurrected. And the Spirit of God.
This single event by itself and other moments like this during a period of 40 days totally convinced them that Jesus was not only back from the dead but also indeed He is who He claim He was.
As we read the gospels, we too might get to know this and also understand why these early believers spent the remainder of their lives spreading the good news about Jesus of Nazareth.
And why they wrote down their eye witness accounts for us future generations.
"It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.” John 20:19-23
Continuing where we left off, we again read a passage from the Book of John.
The Resurrected Christ appeared to His disciples as they were sheltering in place because of fear and perhaps shame or unbelief and other things they might be feeling at that time.
From the passage above, Jesus appeared and offered them peace in the midst of the trying condition they were in. He then also gave them the breath of life, the Holy Spirit.
I am not really sure how they felt after that encounter but Jesus knew what they needed at that time and that was His presence, His reassuring words and further evidence of what He prophesied will happen, has indeed taken place -- Him resurrected. And the Spirit of God.
This single event by itself and other moments like this during a period of 40 days totally convinced them that Jesus was not only back from the dead but also indeed He is who He claim He was.
As we read the gospels, we too might get to know this and also understand why these early believers spent the remainder of their lives spreading the good news about Jesus of Nazareth.
And why they wrote down their eye witness accounts for us future generations.
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